Toyota Sienna and Avalon Earn Insurance Institute for Highway Safety 'Top Safety Pick' Award

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) has announced that the all-new Toyota Sienna van and redesigned 2011 Avalon full-size sedan have each earned “Top Safety Pick” awards.

The “Top Safety Pick” is the highest safety designation awarded by the IIHS. To qualify for the award, a vehicle must earn the highest rating of “good” in the IIHS’ front, side, rollover, and rear impact tests and be equipped with electronic stability control. The IIHS testing was made more stringent in 2010 with the addition of the rollover test.

The new Sienna is the first, and currently the only minivan to earn an IIHS Top Safety Pick since the rollover test was added to the criteria.

To earn a “good” rollover rating, a roof must be able to support the equivalent of four times the vehicle’s weight compared with the current federal standard of 1.5. In the IIHS testing, the Sienna roof withstood a force equal to 4.12 times its vehicle weight. The Avalon’s weight withstood 4.07 times its vehicle weight.

The IIHS is an independent non-profit research and communications organization funded by auto insurance companies.

All Toyota models meet or exceed the safety requirements of the federal government and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).

Credits: wilswong